Pulse 88th Street
by xXxJazzy B. RealxXx
Summary: There's a delusional killer on the loose in Woodcrest, taking random girls off one particular corner named Pulse, 88th Street. Riley's determined to find him to gain the reward for the criminal, but someone dear ends up getting hurt for the price.


**PULSE 88TH STREET**

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_ Disclaimer: I do not own any of the following Boondocks characters. Well...except for my bad guy that is. _

It's sort of like a little horror flick thing...but I did this awhile ago too at 13. I wrote it at 3 am after watching a horror movie. So I was in the mood and just started writing. It's got some Huey x Jazmine for all you fans out there. Some brother issues between Riley and Huey.

Summary:

"Twenty-two missing girls, twenty-two unsolved cases, all in two weeks." "What is blood…if it is not for shedding…? "

There's a kidnapper on the lose of Woodcrest, taking random girls off one particular corner called, "Pulse, 88th Street." Sick-minded and disrupted by the theory that people were born for death, what happens when this killer ends up taking a certain little mulatto girl by the name of "Jazmine Dubois" ? 

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**_Chapter 1: The Reaper_**

_Blood…_

_What is the purpose of blood, if it is not for shedding?_

_Life…_

_What is the purpose of life, if it is not for taking?_

_Everyone dies somehow, someway, sometime, don't they?_

_Everyone fears death…the instant stop of your heart beating, the drop of your pulse rate; everyone dies…someday, sometime._

_So what is the purpose of living…when we were born to die?_

_One day you, your family, your friends, your loved ones, is all going to perish off the face of the earth…not to heaven, not to hell, to nothingness. You will not live forever. You will die, one day, one time…eventually. Everyone is going to die. Something such as a simple child should be taught; life is short, and so is time._

_Time…_

_It waits for no one._

_Death…_

_It spares no soul._

_Life is wasted time awaiting death's hour…so why live, when all those memories of life will be deceased in the end? Why build them, when eventually they will be robbed from your existence._

_What is blood…if it is not for shedding…?_

_X marks the spot…_

**[The sound of an electronic clown or jack-in-the-box's frantic laugh echoes in the solitude darkness**

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

"Twenty-two missing girls, twenty-two unsolved cases, two weeks…huh." Huey murmured to himself as he, Riley, and Granddad sat in the living room and watched the local ten o'clock ABC news.

"Julia Parker, a simple, sweet, and innocent ten year old girl who attended the Woodcrest elementary school," the voice of a news reporter summarized as a picture of a young girl wearing a big smile filled the bright screen before the tragic breaking news began.

Indignantly, Huey raised an eyebrow. 'I wish the news cast would stop making the intros on a victim sound so heart-warming and then get straight down to the heart-breaking info…'

And the female reporter did just that.

"This sweet and innocent child was taken off the corner of 88th Pulse Street just late afternoon. Local residents who saw this assault say she had walked out of her birthday party and skipped along the sidewalk looking for roses."

The camera suddenly rotates to the image of an old, thick-chunky man wearing a baseball cap and glasses. "She was…" he paused for a moment to look out to the direction of where she had been snatched, and then back to the camera, pointing. "…She was skipping, just along this sidewalk, all the way out to the block's corner, which is pretty far down this street, just along there. And I saw this…this black car parked up on the house that had been sitting there all afternoon. I'm not sure if it was one of the guests for the party or not, but it was parked right in front of her house. After that, I saw her mother come running out of the house, first calling her daughter's name, and then screaming it loudly to where most of our, um…our neighbors came out to see the commotion. After that, when I looked back to the parked car, it wasn't there anymore…like it just disappeared. I didn't even hear it start up and drive off."

"Did you see anyone take her? Ask her to get in the car with them, or a man following her?" one news reporter asked the so-called 'witness'.

"Nope, na-da." he shook his head frantically. "No one was even walking on this block when it happened…no one at all. It was like magic. Poof, she was gone."

Granddad grumbled as he lifted a hairy white eyebrow. "Ain't that the twentieth kidnapping for the last past two weeks?"

"…Twenty-two…" Huey corrected, arms crossed solemnly and eyes still glued to the TV screen.

"Boy, hush…I ain't talkin' to you!!" Granddad whispered angrily, going back to his own conversation. "If it's that bad…then why don't they just secure the block?"

"They have…" Huey once again intruded his self-conversation, eyes darting towards him. "They ordered at least five parked police car officials, some even to drive around the area, but another girl was taken right under their noses, remember? No one saw anything once again. Another mystery unsolved."

"BOY! What did I just say!? Didn't I just tell you not to interrupt me when I'm talkin'?!"

"Then who are you talking to, Granddad?!"

"MYSELF! Now hush so Granddaddy can watch the news!"

Apparently, this was the only witness reported on the news for two weeks straight.

"Psh," Riley's lips flapped as he released a huffed breath while pressing the buttons of his new Gameboy system. "They ain't gon' secure the 'residence.' Half of them girls that was' taken were black…it's 'da white people 'dat are in charge, Granddad."

"IF-Y'ALL-DON'T-HUSH-AND-LET-ME-FINISH-MY-NEWS-STATION!!" Granddad threatened, now colored with boiling red anger.

The broadcast went back to the original female news reporter who was standing on the very block. "Officials say this will have to add up to the next list of twenty-three missing girls, including this one. This is Marissa Jones reporting in Woodcrest on Pulse, 88th street, ABC news."

"That doesn't make any sense!" Huey leaned forward, words outbursts of anger. "How can they automatically label the case as 'unsolved' if they didn't even look into it yet or bother to investigate!?"

"…I told you…" Riley smirked. "…When it come ta' black people…nobody cares, shoot, we'd be lucky if they put us on the news if a nigga happened to be associating wit' terrorism… 'it's a nigga he too ugly and dark to be seen nation wide'…"

"Stop talkin' crazy, boy. And racist at that! This ain't the time of Martin Luther King! We all got the same rights!" Granddad assured him before getting up and making his way to the kitchen.

"Oh ye'h?!" Riley jumped off the couch and followed after his grandfather. "What about the Constitutional days back in American U.S. History? Government authorities ignored the Bill of Rights' first ten amendments befo', and the Constitution's laws too! No body said nothin' until later on when things got bad! Just cuz they make a civil right or law don't mean they got to follow it half the time, Granddad!"

He was just as intelligent as Huey when it came to certain topics (he was interested in) or a smart-mouthed argument he felt so desperate to win, but he used his smarts for the wrong reasons or things.

Huey's eyes stayed glued on the TV until finally he decided to shut it off. The screen of the woman's face disappeared into a white shrinking dot until the entire screen went blank with blackness.

The young, black Marxist-Leninist tossed his head from side to side, nappy afro bouncing with every opposite shake of the head. His lone sigh echoed loud sound effects throughout the house. Huey made his way up the stairway of the large and newly bought house, hand sliding on its railing as the stairs creaked with every step his socks pressed down on.

_'I've been saying it for years,'_ the voice in his head began to narrate his usually complex notions. '_And I'll say it again. Society's civilization is the most uncivilized monarchy ever organized, or disorganized in this situation. Sometimes I didn't understand why the world was so ignorant and so…stupid. I guess that's something that humanity will never figure out; why our systems are so perfect they're imperfect. People…hmph…I really can't stand them.' _

Yesterday there was a report of two uncovered bodies of the original taken victims, hidden in the janitor's basement of J. Edgar Hoover Elementary. There was a message written behind them, obviously painted with the two small girls' red, dried blood, '**X MARKS THE SPOT'** smudged and smeared all over the gray walls. On each of their bodies there was an **'X'** engraved with perhaps a rusty knife in the centre of their chests and peeling at their lifeless hearts.

Huey opened the door to his shared bedroom to find Riley lying down on his tangled bed sheets with one of his mini BB guns aimed at the ceiling. The older Freeman brother's eyes thinned as he watched the red stream of light trail along the white paint of the ceiling. He passed Riley and took a seat in his wheeled chair in front of the computer. He leaned forward and pressed the white button of the tower to hear the screeching vibrate of electronics sound off that it was on.

"Aye…that's some scary sht, huh…?"

Huey's burgundy orb darted to the corner of his eye to glance at Riley behind him.

"How we got some crazy nigga runnin' loose 'round the streets like dat…kidnappin' lil' girls…" Riley continued as he examined the exterior of his gun, accidentally releasing an aimless shot at the wall and chipping some paint. "I mean, the street is called, 'Pulse' man…ain't that kinda strange ta' you?"

Huey's eye narrowed. He turned back to his computer screen. "Why do you care? You've never been interested in what happens on the news."

"And?" his voice replied, annoyance hinted.

An awkward pause deafened their conversation.

_-Tap-  
-Tap-  
-Tap-_

The abrupt tapping of the keyboard had stopped as the last finger pressed down. Huey's hands stayed hovered over it before his eyes bulged widely, a thought suddenly yanking at the chain of the dimmed light bulb in his mind. The rolling of the chair's wheels skidded across the floor as Huey turned all the way around in his seat to face Riley.

"What are you up to now?" Huey's tone sounded sour and yet urgent all at once.

Riley's eyes locked on him with a cunning smirk on his face. A big grin began to spread.

"Riley, we're not going anywhere near that street tomorrow!" automatically his brother read his mind.

He sat up in his position with his gun still gripped between his fingers tightly. "Aw c'mon, Huey! Why you gotta be a lil' punk man?! I just wanna see what's da' big deal wit' dis' street! Pulse? Psh, it sound like a place where all dat horror stuff be happenin'! I wanna see some action! And you know what else 'da news said, right?! Whoever can find a piece of evidence, find the little girls, capture or give up where 'dis nigga at, THEY GET PAID SOME O' DAT GREEN CHEDDA'!!" Riley snickered sneakily.

Huey's eyebrows furrowed. "Do you have ANY idea how dangerous this guy is? He's managed to take twenty-two girls in two weeks, and no body saw him! How you think a little eight year old kid like you is gonna find anything on this guy? You don't know how this psycho-path works. He might be a delusional rapist of children, boys and girls!"

Riley raised a, 'what the hell are you talking about' eyebrow. "…OH! Like Michael Jackson? Wait a minute, nigga I ain't tryna catch no Michael Jackson! I'm talkin' 'bout a kidnapper! Not no wannabe-white celebrities! Damn, Huey! You need ta' start takin' sht seriously!"

Huey sneered at him and shook his head, turning back around in his chair. "Don't be stupid…I am being serious. If you—"

"Whatever, nigga." Riley raised a hand in a turned away head to silence him. "I'm gon' get paid!" his devious laugh echoed annoyance in Huey's ear as he also heard the bed shift once the younger Freeman brother sat up and headed for the bedroom door. "I'ma take one of ma' big guns tomorrow, YEAH, YEAH, YEEEEEAH!" he cheered in his 'ghetto' fashion.

Huey gazed into the white wood of the door with unsure and uneasy eyes.

This will mark as the top five stupidest things Riley's done so far all this year. Usually he would manage to wriggle his way out of his acts to accomplish his 'thuggin' life', like practice. But this time, it might turn into something more than fun and games. This is what Huey feared.

---- Eleven o'clock at night -----

Huey was in a pair of bright blue pajamas, reading a nameless green book in bed while Riley was choosing over a series of his different and new Airsoft Firearm guns. He took position and aimed it at the closet door, then quickly drawing its red dot to the computer.

"So you're seriously thinking about getting involved with this killer, huh?" Huey asked distastefully to bring the subject up again.

"Yeah so?" his own voice defiant. "It's a free country, I can do whatever I want, aiight?"

"Technically the entire country is stolen land, so I wouldn't call it too much of 'free.'" Huey grunted at the sound of darted BBs being targeted around the room. He jerked up quickly. "Basically you're willing to get raped, killed, or kidnapped just for a few green bills?!"

"HELL TO DA' YEAH!" Riley grinned, one eye in the firearm's small telescope. "Nigga I'ma get PAID. M-O-N-E-Y EQUALS R-I-L-E-Y!" he said in a sort of sing-song rhythm.

"That's not the point!" Huey scowled. "The money will become meaningless if you're no longer there to take it! You'll be snatched up like those other victims if you even try!"

"Why the hell do you care?!" Riley yelled, already annoyed by his brother's whining. "You never thought about my well-being as if you 'cared' 'bout me befo', Huey! So why you trippin' all of the sudden now?! Huh?! Jealous cuz you ain't gon' get paid?!" Riley snorted, slightly teasing him.

"I don't CARE about the money, Riley! I don't give a damn about this case!" Huey hid his face behind his book now, truly agitated, but deciding it was wiser to give the pointless argument up. "If you get raped or taken as the first boy of the killer's top list, it'll be my responsibility…in other words; you are not going to that street tomorrow." The sound of the page turning was the only noise concentrated in the room. His words dripped with dominance and confirmation, making sure to let his brother know what he wanted to do was not the important factor of this equation.

Riley narrowed his eyes dangerously. Control, was his first reasoning to Huey's actions. '_Well he ain't gon' control me…'_

Silence.

"—OW!!" Huey suddenly yelped at the sharp pain burning into his hand as he abandoned his book. He looked up to see Riley holding his gun up, ready to shoot him again if necessary to grasp his attention. "What the hell was that for?!"

"Why you always gotta stir some sht up when it have ta' do wit me, Huey?!" Riley murmured between an angered breath, looking over his gun.

"Because everything that has to do with you is reckless and ruthless, that's why!" Huey snapped, holding a reddened bruised hand as he stood before him in an arguing stance. "Maybe if you ever tried thinkin' about YOUR safety, and not the thrill of being a thug, you might just live long enough to get some sense into that eight-year old head of yours!"

Riley balled his fist and clenched his teeth, as if ready to start a brawl. "Then stay the hell out of my business if that's how you feel, 'big bro'! I don't need you to bail me outta jail when I'm in trouble! I don't need you to have ma' back! I can take care of myself! I AIN'T NEEDIN' NOBODY, ESPECIALLY YOU, TO 'PROTECT' ME!" he jabbed his finger into the cushions of Huey's chest. "So if it makes you so pssed off, THEN NIGGA STAY THE FUCK OUTTA MA' WAY!" he gave one final outburst, spitting up saliva that escaped from his shout.

There was a moment of glaring and grunting, Huey earning the most hateful. He slapped Riley's hand way brutally, looking as if he could hit him at any given moment.

There were times when they would get on each other's nerves, maybe even toss the other around the house a few times once a week or so. But it was nothing serious, nothing too violent or hateful to keep a grudge against. Yet, this time it seemed different. Huey was actually experiencing the insolent hate at the sound of his younger brother's tone and attitude. Riley was no exception to this equivalent feeling. A balled fist owned by Huey with fierce knuckles clenched tightly trembled.

"Fine!" he said between grunted teeth. He began to walk his way around Riley, both their eyes locked and flaming. "Be the dumba$$ you are and go do some bullsht to get yourself killed! Disappear if that's how you want it, do it for good, it would probably be more peaceful and sane without you here anyway! So go ahead and do what you want!" with the last words thrusting into anger's red pool, Huey headed to the bedroom door, slamming it shut, just before a BB hit the wood of the door's back.

Morning -----

Like every other morning of Woodcrest, the air was chilly and frosted. Huey, Jazmine, and Riley were walking in a small triangle angled group down the sidewalk to school. Huey in his black coat and purple scarf, Jazmine in her swiss-cream colored jacket and Riley behind them in his black furry-hooded jacket and brown cap. A few times Huey would look over his shoulder, just to meet glowering eyes with his younger brother. They continued to scowl at each other until Jazmine interrupted,

"You heard about the attacks on Pulse Street?" Jazmine turned to Huey with enthusiasm.

"Of course," Huey replied with his eyes now looking ahead. "Everyone did."

Jazmine began to hop on each section of the pavement on one foot, as if playing some sort of hop-scotch. "So why do you think it's been happening only on Pulse street? Is that his favorite street or something?"

Huey just shrugged. "I don't know…probably because of the name, it relates to his kidnapping actions, and spreads the concept of fear to others. Mental crime suspects usually enjoy fear from others. It motivates them."

"Oh…" her emerald-colored eyes gazed down on her foot as she timed her hop. "Do you think…do you think he'll hit this street too?" the look against her pretty irises glowed in a hint of concern, and they suddenly burdened themselves on Huey when she stopped her hops.

His eyes didn't wander off to her, they stayed focused on the seemingly endless path before them. "No."

Jazmine walked casually, but her eyes of worry didn't leave her usually so elated face. "I hope not, because he only takes girls, right? I wouldn't want to be—"

"MAAAANN," Riley's whine disrupted her when a sudden harsh impact bumped her shoulder. "quit btchin'!" he took the lead of the group. "Y'all act like this nigga is the apocalypse of some sht!"

"He kidnapped twenty-two girls, and killed the first two he took." Jazmine explained, somewhat angry at him for interfering her and Huey's conversation.

Riley glared back at her from behind his shoulder. He opened his mouth to protest back, but suddenly led it into an indecent smirk, 'hmph'-ing. "Aiight then…" he held his chin high with his hands still in his pockets and continued walking. "Go 'head and be a chicken…" he held in a chuckle.

They walked all the way to the corner of the block, quite a long, long way, but stopped when Riley did. Huey and Jazmine followed his eyes surveying the depression and ill moodiness of a lone street. A gusty wind twirled discarded fall leaves. The area for some reason seemed gray and not colorful or exhilarate like the rest of town. Cars were broken down or overheated, windows were sealed up by wooden boards, playground swings were broken off their chains, the grass even seemed dull and red graffiti was sprayed sloppily on the houses' doors and alleys.

"Damn..." Riley whispered. "When did Compton get here?"

Jazmine's fingers somehow found themselves around Huey's arm and clutching onto the fabric of his black coat tightly. Huey's eyes turned to her immediately and stayed on her for a minute with an arched dark brown and thick brow.

"Huey…" Jazmine's small voice called him, tugging his arm a little. "…Look…" she pointed a shaky finger at the street sign.

**Pulse 88th Street.**

Dirty and stained in smeared filth.

This was the result after the murders and kidnaps of the twenty-two children.

Jazmine stepped back, still gripping Huey's arm.

The clanking of Riley's heavy boots against the pavement tuned life.

"Riley." Huey demanded for his brother to stop right there and never to take another step.

His younger brother just gave him a catty yet cross smile. "Oh c'mon, don't be such a scaredy lil' btch!" he began walking calmly into the mist of the depraved street. He was suddenly jerked back. Riley looked back to see Huey's hand roughly squeezing and tightening the pulse rate of his wrist as he stopped him.

"Don't be stupid and get yourself in deep, inescapable trouble. You are NOT. GOING. We talked about this yesterday!!" Huey said in a dominant voice. He began to drag him back, but Riley pulled away and out of his grasp.

"NIGGA GET OFF ME!" he sneered. "You ain't in charge of me! Just cuz you older don't mean I gotta do everything you say, Huey!"

"It's not about who's in charge or not, it's about having some common sense!" he argued back. "Do you have any thought in mind what you're getting yourself into!?"

"Bullsht Huey, and you know it! You'd prefer it if I just disappeared without a trace one day, right?! Right?!" Riley shoved him back ruthlessly in the chest. "Say it, Huey! Tell everybody how you want you're little brother gone like you did last night!—C'mon!" he shoved him again, Huey walking backwards. "Say it!!"

"Back off!" Huey barked.

Before the shoving got into an actual fight, Jazmine was quick to separate them. "Riley, stop!" she demanded, pushing them both back. The two brothers glared into each other's eyes between their separated distances behind Jazmine's outstretched arms.

Huey and Jazmine's eyes widened when Riley turned around and headed down the street. "I ain't askin' you ta' come, so just skip on back home and go on wit ya' life fulfillin' your conspiracy sht, Huey. Whether or not you come ain't ma' biggest concern. But like I said," his eyes turned to his brother in an unrecognizable frown. "DON'T be gettin' in ma' way…" he made his words dreadfully clear. He kicked up speed and ran down the street in a hurry.

Huey stared into his brother's back as he continued to run along the vandalized street. He deepened the serious frown on his face. No matter how much he disagreed, or wanted to pound the logical sense into his brother, he could not let Riley go ahead and get away with his wants, no matter what he said last night. Listening was never apart of Riley's hearing ability, Huey knew that a little bit too well.

"Huey!" Jazmine cried out when she felt him walking forward. "We're gonna be late for school!" she gently tugged him back, gazing up into the profile of his face.

Huey stared into the dismal gloominess of the street's air, standing still with a little Jazmine still gripping onto his arm. The winds blew breezes between his afro, shifting the edges of its nappy appearance in one direction. Huey turned around, Jazmine releasing him as it seemed like he was going to leave Riley to accomplish his stupidity of curiosity. After a minute she flinched at his frustrated sigh, and gave him an awkward stare when his eyes peered at the street over his shoulder. Riley had already disappeared.

"Aw damnit..." he swore under his breath.

He about-faced and began his journey down the pavement, leaving Jazmine. His brother was his biggest precedence right now.

"H-Huey!" Jazmine fussed while gripping down the end of her pleated skirt, pouting in the process.

He stopped in his tracks and turned to stare over at her.

She was begging him with her eyes to do something.

"…Oh yeah," Huey snapped into thought. "If Mr. Uberwitz asks for me, tell him I was sick, will you?—Thanks!" he motioned to scurry off into the mist.

"But H-Huey!" Jazmine gasped before running after him with her hand stretched out. "D-Don't leave me!" she begged. "I wanna come too!"

She nearly jumped out of her skin when he suddenly spun around and faced her with steely, cold eyes. "Are you insane? What are you thinking?!"

"—Of coming with you…" she dropped her hands to her side.

"You've seen the news, RIGHT? This street is known for the little girls that have been taken off the street corner by some psycho. If you come, you'll be the twenty-third kidnapped victim. I'm not about to be blamed for your disappearance." He said sternly.

"But…" she cocked her head with saddened eyes. "…Huey I…I want to come with you…if you're going, then why can't I go?!"

She wanted to tell him she wanted to come because she felt much safer with him by her side down a cursed street than walking to school alone. As long as he was there, she felt secure enough no matter where they walked. Not only this, but she felt like she needed to supervise him, watch over him in the face of danger, even if it was utterly the other way around.

By the look in her eyes, he could already tell what she was thinking and why she longed to be by his side anyhow. He didn't understand it and he didn't want to understand it.

"NO." and when it came from Huey, 'no' meant 'no.'

"Huey, please!" she ran after him as he took further steps into the darkness. "Let me come!" she tugged on the end of his coat. "Please?! Pleeease Huey!"

"NO!"

For five minutes he struggled to persuade her into leaving, to not get in the way, anything so she wouldn't tag along, but she managed to sneak around his stern protests and beg him into letting her.

"Alright, alright, fine!" he moaned as she followed close behind him for the fifth time. "Just stay close, and don't wander off from me, okay?"

Oh she could do that, everyday if he'd let her.

Jazmine nodded and reached for his arm. "Okay…" she smiled shyly as she clung to him.

They walked aimlessly into the midst, not spotting the younger Freeman brother anywhere.

"This is really scary," Jazmine hugged his arm tighter, eyes drifting all around. "What if the crazy man comes out and ambushes us?" she began to shiver at the thought, burying her face into Huey's arm.

A sigh. "And that's why I told you NOT to come." Huey's sarcastic eyes roamed away from her.

Jazmine pouted some, walking closer. "But…do you think he's gonna be here right now and try and take me away while we're looking for Riley?" her voice trembled.

"No." Huey told her plainly.

Jazmine's eyes looked down on her feet, feeling weary.

"And even if he did,"

She flinched up to hear his voice.

"I wouldn't allow him to take you too, if that's what you're so afraid of," he told her in closed eyes, then suddenly coming open to her. "Understand?"

Jazmine stared at him for a long moment. "Really Huey?"

"Of course not, I mean, I wouldn't just LET him walk right up to us and snatch you away just like that. It's not even an option." He continued, not realizing the huge smile that was forming across her flushed face.

"Do you promise?" she leaned into him, big eyes full of worry but with a thin smile nevertheless.

Huey's eyes finally locked on her. He was getting ready to say he couldn't guarantee her safety, but it wasn't an option, like he said. So he told her to simply calm her fright of being kidnapped or murdered, "Uh, yeah… I promise."

They continued to make their way to their destination, Jazmine feeling safer with each second passing. She giggled a little, making Huey's eyes draw to her in sudden confusion.

"What?" he frowned.

Jazmine tossed her head from left to right with her two pigtails bouncing, smiling at the same time. "Mm-um. Nothing…never mind." She still smiled, her eyes soft in a romantic glow.

She was thinking about something, something he probably wouldn't be able to comprehend.

Huey raised a questioning eyebrow, sighing in lost hope of ever understanding girls. He pledged to never fall in love with a woman, let alone a girl. He could never see himself like one of those people, vowed to be with one person forever, any person at that. Besides, who would he be vowed to be with?

"Riiiiilllleeeeey!!" Jazmine echoed, knocking Huey out of his thoughts. "RILEY! WHERE AAAARRRE YOU?!"

"Shhhhh!!" Huey hushed her quietly. "Do you WANT the kidnapper to know we're here?! Quiet down!"

"Sorry!" Jazmine argued, clamping both hands over her mouth when Huey shushed her again.

A shadow rushed between the scene, disappearing in a flash behind the walls of the house without anyone seeing its motion.

"Wow…" The mulatto girl's green eyes were mesmerized by the trashiness of the streets. "There's a lot of graffiti around here…" Jazmine whispered as she stared at the red letters painted on the doors and sides of the houses. "Why is it all in red?"

"Because it's not in paint, it's blood." Huey concluded. "Look at the messages. They all say something about a specific detail of the kidnapped or murdered girls. This is his or hers way of marking Pulse 88th street their territory."

The same shadow rushed behind them, causing Huey's head to spin around, but not in time to catch the figure with his eyes. Jazmine looked around too. She suddenly yelped when the same noise of rushing winds rustled the grass blades and stood in front of Huey as her safety shield.

"H-Huey…" she trembled as she clutched the collar of his black coat and buried her head beneath his chin. "I'm scared…" she whimpered. A tear droplet was pasted to the corner of her left eye. "Is that the kidnapper? Is that him?"

Huey's burgundy eyes thinned in awareness. "C'mon," his arm grabbed onto hers, Jazmine suddenly losing all feeling of sudden fear. "Let's find Riley and get out of here as soon as possible."

They were now in a desperate attempt to find Riley Freeman.

Jazmine got ready to scream his name again, "RIL—"

A bullet whizzed past them, cutting between their airs, and hitting the trashcans behind them, causing all of them to topple over with thundering rumbles.

Jazmine latched onto Huey's mid area in shut eyes as he faced to the shooter.

"DAMNIT!!"

They heard a high-pitched swear.

Riley came from out of the bushes with a large rifle, a toy of course. "What the hell y'all doin' here?! I told you NOT TO GET IN MA' WAY!" he came stomping up to Huey who sneered. "THIS IS THE OPPOSITE OF NOT GETTIN' IN MA' WAY!"

"Oh can it, we came back to come and get you!" Huey threw his arm out and stepped up to Riley, Jazmine forced to release him.

"Nigga I don't need ma' black a$$ saved! DAMN, MAN! WHY THE HELL CAN'T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT?!" he pointed the point of the rifle to his head. "Is yo' brain too slow to understand the words comin' out ma' mouth or what?! I know how ta' take care of my—OOOOWWW!!!" Riley hollered when his finger accidentally slipped, causing the trigger to open fire at his head. He fell on his knees, holding his head. Lucky for him, the BB wasn't too powerful of a blow. "Fck, fcking sht!! Son of a...gaw, urgh!" he cursed, worse than usual.

Huey grabbed onto his arm and yanked him forward. "Alright, that's enough! C'mon! We're going back NOW!"

"No! Lemme go!" Riley struggled to pry his brother's hands off him. "Get off me! Get off me, Huey!"

As Riley and Huey fought over who stays and who goes, Jazmine was the only one paying attention to the third moving shadow that dashed through the alley with a following growl.

She gasped and clutched her churning stomach. Her hearing muted out the hissy fit voices arguing and listened to the mysterious noise of evil grinding against the boundaries of darkness. She slowly crept toward the alley, leaning sideways to get a clear image of what her curiosity drew her to so passionately. Jazmine stepped closer to the walls of the alley, seeing nothing but pitch black. She could hear her own heart beat pumping to burst out of her ribcage. The whole while through she was holding her breath. Her eyes went unblinking…

Riley and Huey both paused when they heard a high-pitched squeal and a sudden serpent-like hiss.

"JAZMINE!" Huey shouted, throwing off Riley and running to her aid. He skidded to a halt when he ran around the corner of the bloody alley and saw Jazmine sitting on her rear, laughing as she held a small animal to her face.

A cat, the color of night, was happy-pawing her stomach, licking her chin to hear Jazmine's laugh.

"Huey, look!" she said between giggles. "It's a kitty!"

Huey dropped his shoulders in disbelief, thinking she had been hurt, and yet, here she was, cuddling with a small black but thin kitten.

"Mrrooow…" it greeted, revealing its red tongue. It purred and rubbed against Jazmine's cheek, giving her friendly licks as she giggled.

Riley came rushing to Huey's side while holding his cap in place. "Yo, what happened—Aw HELL naw!" he overly emphasized the 'hell' in his sentence. "We ova' here, thinkin' you was dead or somethin' when you ACTUALLY French kissin' wit a damn alley cat! Nigga that's nasty!" he pointed a finger at her in squints.

"Oh be quiet, Riley!" Jazmine tried to scowl as the cat purred and licked the tips of her fingers. "The cat's been following us the entire time! That's what that shadow was!" she smiled at Huey and stood up with the kitten in her arms. "Friendly kitty, aren't you?" she scratched its right ear as it meowed in response. "Good kitty…" she encouraged.

Riley rolled his eyes in unison with Huey's sigh.

"This is some bullshit..." Riley murmured in disappointment.

They left the alley, Jazmine with her new found kitten in her arms.

"Man this is BOOTLEG! There ain't no kidnappin' nigga 'round here! No body even out here! C'mon now! Where the nigga at?! I bet you cuz there AIN'T no kidnappin' nigga! It's probably all a fraud! This dude is probably one 'dem people tryna imitate that old demented nigga from dat movie Saw!!" Riley blabbered impassively.

Huey sighed as they headed for the sidewalk. "Riley, will you shut up. This is not a movie. It's REAL. Pranksters don't use real life bodies and purposely discard them in the school janitor's basement with bloody writing on the wall, 'X Marks the Spot.'"

Riley turned his gaze away from Huey in a action of anger. "…Sounds like Saw ta' me…"

They all stopped chatting when the shadow of a bulky cloud drifted over them, rumbling suddenly invading the once blue sky. A fierce wind rolled in along with it. Riley, Huey and Jazmine stared up at the sky in different expressions and thoughts of a storm perhaps.

"Let's go." Huey signaled. "School starts in less than five minutes."

Riley crossed his arms in closed eyes. "Man, fck that sht. I'm goin' back HOME." He made his way to the front of the group.

The street only seemed to get darker.

Jazmine tagged along at the back of the bunch. She stared at Huey's back in wonder. "He's really hard to figure out sometimes, you know…?" she talked to her kitten as it looked up at her with playful eyes and meowed. "Most of the time he's mean to me…" her eyebrows furrowed down on that. "But then sometimes, when no one's around, he can be really wonderful in his own way. Sometimes, I even think he cares about me…" she hugged her cat to her chest in a swerving emotion inside. "…If anyone cared about me with all their heart, especially Huey, it would make me really, really happy inside…" she smiled happily.

The kitten just looked up at her with confused green orbs. A little meow escaped between its lips.

Footsteps were heard in the distance.

The alert eyes of the cat's eclipse pupils lifted up, becoming wider in full spheres.

Jazmine suddenly paused when she felt the small body of the kitten tensing. She looked down upon her cat, seeing all its black hair standing up in bristles on its back, with ears pressed against the back of its head, and pupils suddenly dilated. "Kitty? What's wrong?" she asked it.

The black cat raised the corner of its lips and lifted whiskers to reveal clean white teeth and a red serpent curved tongue, an impure hiss erupting from its throat.

Jazmine flinched back in worried eyes. "…Kitty…?"

A loud growl rumbled within its vocal cords as it stared unblinking at the road behind them.

Jazmine stood quietly alone in the middle of the street. She listened to a sound in the void, eyes lighting up when it became clearer. She spun around and gasped when her instincts drew to a small box decorated in clown colors appeared in the streets of an alley just across from her. She was dragged near it with the cat still in her arms, seeing closely as the yellow handle was unwinding by itself. She stood petrified for a moment, not knowing what to do. Automatically the joker-head sprang out of the small box, face covered in red lines of dried blood and dirt, laughing loudly like a loon. Jazmine screeched and fell back on her rear in a 'oof!' The cat had driven its claws into her sweater, in which it was caught and stuck to her chest. It cringed over her body and hissed threateningly at the darkness before them, struggling to untangle its claws. Jazmine whimpered at a small skinned knee. She looked up in teary eyes, staring up at nothing but blackness. It took her moments later to fully realize what she was truly staring at.

Half of a white mask revealed itself through a shade of darkness. Its eye was lifted upwards in happiness as so was its mouth, pitch black inside. She screamed and crawled forward as the black kitten scurried away. Quickly enough she retrieved her kitten again in a rush and ran through the streets with a stream of tears penetrated against her cheek. She stopped abruptly in her tracks with her green eyes dilated as she gazed around the street. Everything was suddenly ashy and fogged.

"…Huey…?" she sniffled. "…Riley…?" she said more fearful now. "GUYS?!" she cried, not seeing one single person in sight. "WHERE ARE YOU?!" her voice called back to her in numerous echoes.

Jazmine gripped the kitten to her when a shadow ran past her with a dragging yet sick laughter. She squealed Huey's name, praying he'd come for her, anyone at all to save her. She looked down at the pavement when she realized it was darker all of the sudden. A cold presence towered over her trembling body. Slowly her head rotated to see the unseen silhouetted presence behind her, eyes frozen in fright and watery with tears. "HUEY!!!!" she wailed in one last desperate scream, and this time it thundered through the streets powerfully.

Huey paused, eyes broadly wide. He turned around to Riley. "Did you hear something?" he asked in puzzlement.

"No…" his brother replied carelessly.

"Are you sure?" his protruded orbs directed back to their normal route. "I thought I heard something…" he whispered. He jolted back when a sudden conclusion came to him. "Wait…" He spun around to Riley, heart skipping an uneasy beat. "Riley? Where's Jazmine?!"

Riley looked behind him, shrugging. "I don't know…she was right behind me a few minutes…ago…" he trailed off to come to the same thesis. "OOOOOHHHH SHT!"

Huey's eyes bulged with remorse, shock and fear. "…Jazmine...JAZMINE!" he ran past Riley and back toward the accursed street.

Riley soon followed in a hurry, almost tripping over his own feet. "Yo, wait up!"

But Huey was already bolting down the sidewalk in desperation. He panted incessantly as he passed the blood-painted houses and alleys, eyes running from right to left to find the missing mulatto child. "JAZMINE!!" he yelled. He slowed down when he came to the end of the block, which was a dead end."DAMN!" he grunted in a nervous-wreck. "Where the hell is she!?!" he about-faced and sprinted back and forth through the neighborhood, looking and calling everywhere for her.

"YO, HUEY! HEY, HUEY! I FOUND SOMETHIN'!"

In a second Huey was running up to Riley, hoping secretly that it was Jazmine he had found. His hopes were no more when he saw Riley pointing to something ahead.

"Yo, look…" Riley stared widely as he pointed to the alley.

Huey's orbs followed his direction, creased eyebrows letting up when he saw the message written against the dead end of the narrow alleyway.

'HIDE AND SEEK' was smeared in blood before them.

A brown hand reached out and grabbed a pink and untied shoe abandoned in the middle of the street. Huey stared sorrowfully into the gray footwear interior inside of the little sneaker, orbs quaking.

A single rain drop fell inside of it, leaving two damp blotches. Huey's eyelids narrowed when more rain began to fall, and soon all of Woodcrest was showered over by the hard pitter-patters of rain from the clouded sky.

Huey gritted his teeth and dropped his head with eyes shut, his eyebrows twitching and struggling to sustain the frown wrinkling his forehead.

Riley stared at his brother in some show of rare hurt. He had never seen him on the verge of falling into pieces. "Huey?" he took a step forward.

"I promised not to let her go…" he whispered hoarsely, angrily. "And now he's got her too…and there's nothing we can do about it…"

"Aye man, that ain't true. We can bust a few puzzles, riddles and rhymes and figure out where this crazy nigga at, you know?" he pounded his fist into his hand. "I'm talkin' about goin' deep into the absence of evidence, cuz the absence of evidence isn't the evidence of absence…or whatever sht Rummy be sayin'. We can still find her and bust that nigga's a—"

"We can't…" Huey interrupted. "How can mere children handle something the adults can't even figure out?"

There was a pause as both listened to the silent rain.

A rain drop fell from the visor over Riley's eyes as his hard light browned orbs stared at his brother's shadow. "…So dat's it? You just gon' let this nigga take her away like dat?" he crossed his arms over his chest in disappointment.

"…There's nothing I can do to bring her back…!" he shouted. His head bowed lowly, lips departed in disbelief. "…And I promised…" He suddenly let go of a stifled breath and clenched his teeth harshly in rage, his fists shaking at an unbearable loathe. A single trail of rain ran over his face and down his cheek, as if to resemble a tear he would never let loose.

The clouds darkened as the rain continued to pour, crying for the sad event that had befallen over Woodcrest and broken the unbreakable, steel heart of the pessimistic Huey Freeman.

-------

It was an alright chapter for it being written in the past...well, seemed like the past at the most.


End file.
